Apple is once again rated the world’s most valuable brand

Back in September, Interbrand rated Apple as the Best Global Brand of 2013, the first time in the brand survey’s history that any brand had managed to beat out Coca-Cola. Apple looks to continue its streak in another list, this one from Forbes, which once again rates Apple as the world’s most valuable brand above Microsoft, Coca-Cola, IBM and Google. Forbes lists Apple’s brand value at $104.3 billion, nearly double that of second-place Microsoft. Interestingly, the list notes that Apple’s advertising budget is significantly smaller than the three brands directly behind it.

Another major riser in the chart is Samsung, which “had the strongest one-year gain of any brand in the top 100” and is up by 53% from 2012. On the other hand, Nokia’s brand value has shrunk by an alarming 55% in the past year, and BlackBerry’s fate is even more dire as the smartphone maker has fallen out of the top 100 altogether.

“In such a fast moving category and industry, it is murder to catch up once you fall behind,” explains Kevin Lane Keller, branding expert and professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.